Glendalough Wild Rose Irish Pink Gin

Travel Distilled tries Glendalough Wild Rose Irish Pink Gin from the Glendalough Distillery in the Wicklow Mountains, one of the most stunning parts of Ireland.

The Valley of Glendalough in Ireland — Tranquility at Glendalough

I’ve been twice to Glendalough, both times before there was a distillery there, and it is one of the most beautiful and magical places in Ireland. Which is saying a great deal, as Ireland is full of beautiful and magical places. But you only have to look at the photos of Glendalough on this page to know that it’s somewhere special.

Celtic Cross in Glendalough in Ireland — Celtic Cross in Glendalough

It’s in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains but only an hour’s drive from the centre of Dublin. The name means the “Valley of the Two Lakes”. Glendalough was founded in the 6th century as a monastic settlement by St. Kevin, an Irish hermit priest.

Ruins of the Monastery of St Kevin in The Valley of Glendalough in Ireland — Glendalough Monastery Ruins

It still retains a spiritual atmosphere… even if it now has spirits of a different kind. I still remember standing there, looking at the scenery and the ancient buildings, breathing in the pure air, and feeling lucky to be there.

St Kevin appears on the labels of the spirits produced by the distillery – or at least a cool graphic depicting him, as it must be pretty hard to know what a 6th century Irish hermit looked like. The distillery website tells his story:

‘One day he arrived at the deep, isolated valley of Glendalough. He stood with his arms outstretched, marveling at its beauty. A blackbird landed on his hand and laid her eggs. He took it as a sign, a test of his resolve. So, there he stood, steadfast, day and night until the eggs hatched and the birds fledged. This story, and many others about Kevin, drew people from all over Ireland to the valley.’

It’s a good story, though you’d have to be holding your arms out for a long time before a blackbird would have enough time to lay its eggs in your palm. And what would St Kevin do then? Stand there till they hatched? Still, myths and legends like these seldom make sense if you take them too literally.

The distillery, from what I can see, seems to be in the coastal town of Wicklow, a 30-minute drive east of the valley of Glendalough itself. But they gather some of the botanicals for their gins from Glendalough, and they’re then distilled in small batches. The barrels for ageing their whiskies are made of American oak, but the whiskies are then finished in Irish, Japanese, French or Spanish oak casks. They sound like interesting experiments, I’ sure with tasty results.

Glendalough Wild Rose Irish Pink Gin

I was excited to taste anything from the distillery in this gorgeous part of Ireland, and the Wild Rose Pink Gin was the first chance I had. And there’s a touching and indeed spiritual story behind it. It was made to honour their Head Distiller Ciaran “Rowdy” Rooney’s mother Rose. It was made for his young brother’s wedding, so that Rose, who had recently passed away, could be there in spirit.

Flowers from Rose’s rose garden were included in the botanicals, along with wild roses and other plants from the Wicklow Mountains. After distilling the gin was then infused with more roses, to give it a deep pink colour and a floral nose and taste.

Tasting Glendalough Wild Rose Irish Pink Gin

It’s not surprising, then, that the on the nose the gin has definite floral aromas. But not just that. There’s juniper (of course) and citrus too, and a light spicy aroma.

Gin is about the only spirit that I find hard to drink neat, but I tried a little and found more of the same – floral, citrus and a certain sweetness, perhaps from strawberries or raspberries. The perfect pink gin.

It comes into its own in a cocktail, though, and we tried a straightforward G&T, but using the clear and tasty Q Tonic. It was delicious – refreshing, slightly sweet, a little spicy, and hints of lemon and orange citrus flavours.

Glendalough Wild Rose Irish Pink Gin Awards

The gin has already picked up several awards, so you know it’s something a bit special:

World Gin Awards | Flavoured Gin (Ireland) | Country Winner | 2023
New York ISC | Gin | Gold | 2023
New York International Spirits Competition | Gin | Gold | 2022
New York International Spirits Competition | Gin | Gold 95 Points | 2021
World Gin Awards | Flavoured Gin (Ireland) | Country Winner | 2021
Irish Made | Food & Drink Category | Winner | 2019
The Gin Masters | Super Premium | Master | 2019

Other Glendalough Spirits

I’ll certainly be looking out for other Glendalough spirits. They make a regular Wild Botanical Irish Gin, with local botanicals gathered by their full-time forager, Geraldine Kavanagh. They also do several whiskies, some of them aged in casks that sound like they’ll impart intriguing flavours to the spirits: Burgundy, Madeira, calvados and Japanese mizunara oak.

Yes, definitely time for a return to Glendalough, and this time making a diversion to the Glendalough Distillery.